I hope these fires all through our national forests have made people think about what a bad idea our county commissioners and the Republican representatives in Washington have to turn our most valued public lands into state and private property.
Without a doubt, they would in time sell off those lands to the highest bidder, and the American people will be the very big losers. I hope they are thinking, who will pay for the men and women who fight these fires? Who will pay for the air tankers? Will it come out of the county budget, state budget?
It is time to send our county commissioners out to the “good old boy” pasture. Elect people who represent all the people in the county, not just their base. That goes for our man in Congress, Scott Tipton, also.
I do not want to see my tax money being spent working against something I and a majority of people in Montezuma County use for our hunting, fishing, hiking, biking, ATV use, horseback riding and on and on. Recreation supports many people in this community and gives us a tax base that is not dependent on the boom-and-bust cycle.
Vote for people who realize that climate change is a national security problem and a problem that not only costs billions of dollars, but lives. We can mitigate and slow down and stop climate change if we have the will.
Please vote in 2018 for a positive change and a moral change.
Larry Berger
Cortez